DuPont to Cut Bonuses, Delay Raises For This Year

Chemical Company Blames Proxy Fight, Slower Growth For Moves

DuPont Co.
DD 3.16%
plans to cut bonus payments and delay raises for this year, said a person familiar with the matter, as the chemical company grapples with slower-than-expected growth and an activist investor’s push to split the company.

DuPont Chief Executive and Chairman
Ellen Kullman
told staff this week in a memo that the company would scale back bonuses tied to 2014 performance and postpone this year’s raises until July, the person said. Bloomberg News reported on the memo earlier Thursday.

DuPont moved to trim pay after the maker of Pioneer seeds and Kevlar fiber this week reported full-year profits of $4.01 a share for 2014, at the low end of the anticipated range DuPont laid out in June after saying 2014 profits wouldn’t meet its original expectations.

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DuPont warned this week that the strengthening U.S. dollar and weakness in its seed division would further pressure profits this year, as it projected 2015 earnings below analysts’ projections.

This month Trian Fund Management LP filed a slate of director candidates for election to DuPont’s board, deepening an 18-month debate between the activist fund and DuPont’s management over the company’s future.

The
Nelson Peltz
-led firm has argued that DuPont’s corporate structure is overly expensive and unwieldy, saddling its business units with excess costs and corporate red tape. Trian has called for DuPont to split itself into one company focused on agriculture and nutrition, and another focused on industrial materials.